As a lot of people will know, there is a potential problem that could affect all forms of motorsport in the UK and Europe.

It all stems from an accident a few years ago in one of the Balkan countries when somebody was knocked off a ladder by a tractor, (not a joke), since then the EU have been looking at making widespread alterations to vehicle insurance and this could have dramatic problems for all forms of motorsport. so please read this and send in a comment otherwise we might not have any motorsport in the future. This was emailed to me today and I suspect quite a few of you will have received it as well.

" Help save our Sport from EU directive"

There is a truly serious threat to our sport looming out of the EU very soon – that will result in all forms of motorsport in Europe being forced to shut down. This threat is very real and is no joke. It is imperative that we all respond to the EU Survey on this issue to make our views known. The deadline for submissions is October 20th. Chris Aylett of the MIA has put together an extremely useful guide explaining how to respond, exactly what to say, and which sections to ignore. It takes less than 10 minutes to complete if you follow the MIA guidance.

If you are a company active in motor sport, please amend the figures for staff etc at the relevant point. If you are an individual, I suggest you just substitute ‘we’ for ‘I’.

It is vital that we all respond to this survey right away.

Here is the message from Chris Aylett, Chief Executive of the Motorsport Industry Association:

Subject: URGENT ACTION - to save motorsport in all EU Member States your personal action is needed before October 20th - THIS IS A GENUINE THREAT
Importance: High

Dear Motorsport friend and colleague,

I do not apologise for the dramatic title to this message as our industry and sport face a serious, immediate problem which you can help resolve.

We have until October 20th to respond to this important EC consultation, details of which are attached - if we fail to secure the amendment we seek then the likely outcome is that all motorsport activity, in every EU Member State, will cease.

All involved in the business and organisation of European motorsport need to act NOW to overcome this genuine threat to our own future and that of our employees and sport, from the unintended consequences of action taken by the European Commission (EC).

The Motorsport Industry Association (MIA), along with others including the UK Department for Transport, has been fighting to resolve this issue for more than two years, on behalf of our members and the wider EU motorsport community. Now, with your personal leadership and action, it is possible for us to resolve this.

In simple terms, the EC plans to issue a new Motor Insurance Directive, as a result of which all EU Member States must put into their National Law compulsory and unlimited third-party liability insurance to cover personal injury between motorsport competitors and car-to-car damage during any competition – from Formula One, Moto GP, World Rally to karting, historic and grass roots, whether regulated by the FIA or FIM or not.

However such widespread unlimited new insurance is not currently and, we understand, will not in the future be available - so motorsport will be unable to continue anywhere in the EU.

This will take LESS THAN TEN MINUTES – a short time commitment to keep motorsport alive, and the jobs it supports, in place.

It is most important that you estimate, if motorsport were to cease, how many jobs will be lost directly from your organisation and indirectly by your suppliers or the sport, as this significant economic impact will influence the European Commission.

We really must work together to make the European Commission fully aware of the economic importance of motorsport and the employment which our sport and industry provides across the European Union. Please forward this email to fellow drivers, friends, car preparers and other motorsport contacts.

If you have any questions or comments then please email me and I will respond immediately as we must meet the deadline of October 20th.

Thank you most sincerely – your immediate help is invaluable and much appreciated

We all will have to have this cover to race.
I suspect you will have to show your Certificate of Insurance at sign on before you can indeed sign on.
The MSA cannot let anyone compete at their events without it if this goes through.
I imagine the cost will be high per annum, but maybe you could buy cover by event.
It will cost though.
£50 per event? I don't know, but it will hit us all.
Rally cover will be far greater I suspect as the car into the crowd risk is very high.

All another deep blow, and with closed road events, a real threat due to lots of spectators close to fast cars, such as Bromley.

Quote "compulsory and unlimited third-party liability insurance to cover personal injury between motorsport competitors and car-to-car damage during any competition"

So how does this affect hillclimbs and sprints?!?! As everybody knows we only play with ourselves.....

It affects everything, not just motorsports
This is part of the details that the MSA put out in January "VNUK and how it affects you" on an Insight PDF leaflet that you can look at in full via the MSA web site. It's a very big threat to lots of areas, even museums and SORN'd vehicles could be affected if this badly thought out directive becomes law!!!

" ‘Vnuk’ is a European Court judgement given in
September 2014. Mr Vnuk was injured when a
tractor manoeuvring a trailer in a farmyard in
Slovenia knocked him oﬀ a ladder. He tried to claim
compensation for his injuries from the insurer of the
tractor.

The Slovenian court had to consider how Slovenia had
implemented the EU Motor Insurance Directive into
its local law. They referred a question to the European
Court, to clarify whether the need for compulsory
third party insurance should include use of a vehicle
as a machine (rather than as a means of transport)
away from public roads. Slovenian law only required
compulsory insurance for use of a vehicle as a means
of transport on public roads.

The European Court ruled that the requirement for
compulsory insurance should cover any use of a
vehicle, so long as that use is consistent with the
normal function of the vehicle.
But we’re in the UK, not Slovenia?
Every country in the EU must reconsider their local
law because of the Vnuk ruling. We don’t know
precisely when the UK Government will begin the
formal process of leaving the EU and we don’t know
how long that process might take. In the meantime,
the UK remains part of the EU and is obliged to
consider how the Vnuk judgement impacts UK law
and in particular the Road Trafc Act.

The Vnuk judgement aﬀects all vehicles which are
not currently required to have third party insurance.
This includes everything from electric bicycles,
golf buggies, quad bikes and ride-on lawn mowers,
through to forklift trucks, agricultural machines and
construction plant. Even static vehicles in museums
and SORN’d vehicles would be aﬀected.

All motorsport vehicles from karts, single seaters,
saloons, rally, rallycross and cross country vehicles,
trials cars, production cars in autotests, and even
land speed record vehicles and Formula 1 cars
would be required to have compulsory third party
insurance. Many competition vehicles are already
road registered, taxed, MOT’d and insured, but this
insurance is usually limited to their activities on
public roads, and not during competitive sections.
A similar situation applies to vehicles on trackdays.
No insurance policy is available to cover such a
compulsory obligation."

So as you can see, this could affect, all manner of things in everyday life, not just hillclimbs and sprints.

So as well as sending a reply to the consultation send an email to your MEP and your MP and make the buggers do something for us!!

We all will have to have this cover to race.
I suspect you will have to show your Certificate of Insurance at sign on before you can indeed sign on.
The MSA cannot let anyone compete at their events without it if this goes through.
I imagine the cost will be high per annum, but maybe you could buy cover by event.
It will cost though.
£50 per event? I don't know, but it will hit us all.
Rally cover will be far greater I suspect as the car into the crowd risk is very high.

All another deep blow, and with closed road events, a real threat due to lots of spectators close to fast cars, such as Bromley.

Except that such policies do not exist and the insurance industry has stated they never will. It is a matter of record that they consider competitior-to-competitior risks to be uninsurable.